This post is brought to you by Body Glide - helping you avoid saddle sores (oh yeah) and keeping you lubed and running no matter the risk of chaffing.
I ran a long and lonely 18 miles on Friday. I couldn't run with the team on Saturday, so I took advantage of my unemployment (and took a break from dressing up my monkeys) and decided to put my time to good use.
It's hard to get out of bed when you are facing 18 miles, but I like to lie to myself a little bit. "I'll just do 13 miles today, it's not life or death if I walk the rest or do 18 next weekend." That pretty much works for me every time. That's how my girlfriends and I got ourselves into our first marathon; we lied to ourselves up until the last .2 of the race. It started with, "We'll just go and walk the whole thing." Then, "We'll just do the half marathon and then walk the rest." I'm not saying that there wasn't some anger walking throughout the race, but we did run the whole thing, when it all really started as a long drinking tour of France. I'm telling you, lying works.
So, I was lying my way through my run, when I started thinking about how my life would be different if I hadn't gone to college. It's practically impossible to fathom, and there are so many different ways that my cookie could have crumbled. But I do know that, without college, I wouldn't have studied abroad in France or learned French. If I hadn't studied abroad, then I wouldn't have realized how important international education is in my life and I wouldn't have chosen it as a field to work in. I probably wouldn't have lived in London or met any of the people that are my closest friends now. I certainly would not have moved to Boston for work and I definitely would not have taken 15 months to travel the world, learn Spanish and start writing. It's getting hard enough just to find an entry-level job these days that doesn't require a Masters degree, so college is the ultimate opportunity. Without college, I simply cannot think of what my life would be. (I mean, I wouldn't even know how to do a keg stand! What kind of life is that?!)
Lying can be a motivator, but so can a cause. Somewhere during my ouchie run, I realized that running is the least I can do to help someone else go to college and I would run everyday (in fact, I do!) if it meant one more person had the opportunity to realize a life that perhaps you and I take for granted.
If there is anyone out there still reading, how would your life be different without college?
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